CZ called pardon reports false, now he’s applying for one
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has revealed that he is officially angling for a presidential pardon, despite shooting down previous reports of negotiations with the Donald Trump administration.
In an interview with Rug Radio this week, Zhao claimed that his lawyers only applied for a pardon application two weeks ago, after Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote about a potential deal.
Zhao said, “I was like, well, if they’re writing this article, I might as well just officially apply, right?”
When asked how he would rate Donald Trump’s presidency, he replied, “I think it’s going great.”
Read more: Binance founder CZ made $12B overnight when Donald Trump won
The WSJ reported last March that Zhao was pushing the Trump administration for a pardon. However, Zhao claimed the outlet “got the facts wrong,” adding, “No felon would mind a pardon.”
Despite this, a lobbying disclosure filed in March reportedly showed Zhao hired a Washington lawyer to advocate for “executive relief.”
Lawyers are charging millions to chase pardons
Bloomberg reached out to dozens of lawyers and “pardon hopefuls” and discovered that the legal costs to get a pardon case to the White House can reach well above $1 million.
It also reported that the pardon process under Trump has been drastically shortened from a process that would take years and involve FBI vetting to one that now only takes months.
Bitcoin Cash founder Roger Ver and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the man behind FTX’s billion-dollar collapse, are also pursuing pardons from Trump.
Lawyers speaking to Bloomberg estimate it would cost over $1 million for SBF’s parent to pursue a pardon for their disgraced son. As for Ver, he paid Roger Stone, a Trump ally and vocal advocate for pardoning Ross Ulbricht, $600,000 to lobby for him.
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